Knitting-machine.



H. SWINGLEHURST. KNITTlNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3, 19H.

H. SWINGLEHURST.

KNITTING MACHINE.

vAPPLICATION FILED MAY3.191I.

Patented A110. 24, 1915.

3 SHEETS-s115512.

H. SWINGLEHUHST.

KNITTING MACHINE.k

APPLICATION FILED IIIAY 3, I9II.

9 l 5 bgl 5 Patented Aug. ,24, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

FFllQE HARRY SWINGLEHURST, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS,ASSIGNOR TO SCOTT Sr` WILLIAMS, INCORPORATED, OF GAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OE" NEW JERSEY.

KNITTING-MACHINE.

T0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARRY SWINGLEHURST, a citizen of the United States, residing in Boston, Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a knitting machine employing spring beard needles which have reciprocating movement in the needle carrier, and especially to the means employed for operating the sinkers whereby the length of stitch is determined and to the devices for closing the beards of the needles.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated my invention as applied to a circular knitting machine of the type shown in the patent of G. D. Mayo, No. 726,178, dated April 21,1903, but it should be understood that my invention is not limited to a machine of this type or `even to a circular machine, the essential features'of my invention being applicable to straight machines as well.

.ln the drawings Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of suilicient of a machine to illustrate the application of my invention thereto; Fig. 2 is a top or .plan view of a portion of said machine; Fig. 3 is a similar view of part of the same with vsome of the elements removed; Fig. 4: is a view similar to part of Fig. 1 but with some of the elements there illustrated in different positions from those they occupy in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a view illustrating the means employed for effecting vertical adjustment of i the needle cylinder.

1n the drawing, 1 represents the needle cylinder which is mounted upon a carrier 2, the latter being so supported that it can be vertically adjusted, as fory instance, by the means shown in the Mayo patent before referred to, and consisting of a post 2a mounted upon a set screw 2b threaded into the fixed post of the supporting framework.

Surrounding the lower portion of the needle cylinder is a cam ring 3 which is provided with suitable cams for imparting vertical reciprocating movements to jacks 1,

the latter being guided in vertical grooves of the needle cylinder and each of the jacks engaging a butt at the lower end of the stem of the needle 5 which .is likewise guided vertically in the grooves of the needle cylinder, the projecting portions of the jacks 4. being further .guided in a skeleton cylinder 6 Application filed May 3, 1911.

Specification of Letters Patent. gttnted Aug., 2d, 1915,

Serial No. 624,801.

which surrounds the lower portion of the needle cylinder l. The cam ring 3 has either rotating or reciprocating movement imparted to it. by connection with a drive ring 3 in the manner fully set forth in the Mayo patent, and which therefore it will not be necessary to further dwell upon in this specification.

The jacks are retained in the bases of the grooves of the needle cylinder by meansv of elastic bands 7 contained in -an annular groove in said needle cylinder, and the stems of the needles are likewise retained by means of elastic bands 9 similarly mounted, each jack having a swell or enlargement 10 thereon, whereby when thejack is raised so as to carry this swell or enlargement above the elastic bands 7 the jack will be retained in such elevated position and will likewise retain its corresponding needle in an elevated position, this operation being resorted to in connection with certain of the jacks and needles while knitting a heel or toe pocket upon a web of fabric.

Projecting outwardly from the needle cylinder 1 just below the top of the same is a rib 11, grooved in the same manner as the needle cylinder and carrying an annular bed 12 in which are radially guided a series of reciprocating web holders 13 and a series of sinkers 14, reciprocating movement being imparted to the web holders 13 by a cani formation 15 in an annular cam plate 16 which is mounted so as to rotate on the bed 12 and which has another cam formation 17 for imparting reciprocating movement to the sinkers 14. Rotating or reciprocating movements are imparted to the cam plate y16 from a standard 22 projecting upwardly from the drive ring 3a from which the cam ring 8 derives its movements.

Projecting from the cam plate 16 are a pair of jaws 19 and 20, each carrying a set screw 21, which set screws bear upon the opposite sides of the standard 22 near the top of the same, as shown in Fig. 2, said set screws thereby providing for a limited range of adjustmentdf the cam plate 16 in order that the cam formations 15 and 17 thereon may be properly correlated with the cam formation of the ring 3 which eHects the reciprocation ofthe needles.

The upper end of the standard 22 carries a pair of adjusting screws 23, one of which projects into the upper portion and the other into the lower portion lof a slot 24 formed in said upper portion lof the standard 22, said set screws 23 engaging one arm of a bell crank lever 25 which is pivotally mounted by means of a pivot pin 26' upon the jaw 19 of the cam plate 16, theother arm of said bell crank lever being connected to theforked end of a bar 27fwhich is radially guided in a plate 29 secured to the upper face ofthe cam plate 16, as shown in Fig. 2. This plate 29 carries a section 30 of the sinkeroperating cam 17, said section of the cam fitting into an opening 31 (Fig. 3) of vthe cam plate 16, and the bar 27 carries a movable member 32 of the cam section 30 and permits radial adjustment of said movable member.

' The sinkers 14 serve,1vvhen projected, to press or sink the knitting yarn between thestems of the projected needles and thereby determine thel amount of yarn provided for the formation -of each stitch, and the point to which the hook of each needle descends below the tcp of the needle cylinder in order to knock over the stitch previously formed upon the needle is depen ent upon the amount of yarn'thus supplied, and as the needles are depressed-to the same'point by the cams 'of the cam ring 3 this variation is provided for/by raising or lowering the needle cylinder so that its upper end will project more or less above the hooks of the needles when the latter are in their fully depressed posi-v tion. It is advisable, therefore, that there should be a certain correlation between the vertical position of the needle cylinder and Ithe extent of the inward projection of the K' sinkers, and this correlation I eii'ectl byan "the machine.

interdependence of these two elements of The groove formed in the movable meml ber 32l of the sinister-actuating cam effects retraction of the sinkers at the point where the' thread guide is laying the thread beneath the hooks of the needles when the latter are projected and immediately afterward causes the projection of said sinkersso as to sink the necessary amount of yarn". between the stems of said projecting needles',

consequently the length of stitch will be directly dependent upon the radial" position of said movable' member 3201:' the sinker operating cam in respect to the;l circle 'of- .needles carried by the needle cylinder 1, and' this relation is dependent upon the vertical position of the needle cylinder by reason of j ltlieconnection's before described.

If jfor instance, the. needle cylinder is raised it` carries with it the bed 12, the cam plate 16 mounted thereon, and the lever 25 `which is hung to the -j aw 19 projecting from said foam plate. This causesgthel inwardly projecting arm of said lever 25 to swing downward by reason of its engagement with the set screws 23 carried by the vertical fixed standard 22, and 'the upwardlyprojecting arm of said lever 25 therefore ucauses inward movement of the bar' 27 and-of the movable member 32 of the sinker operating cam carried thereby, so as to increase the inward thrust of the sinkers to an'eXtent commensurate Withthe rise of the needle cylinder. 1f, on they other hand, the needle cylinder is depressed, a reverse action of the, lever 25 results and lthe movable member32 of the sinkeroperating cam'isy retracted so as to .decrease the linward thrustjofjhe lksinkers,

- grooves are flared or beveled',l as shown in Fig. 2, thus permitting of the slight movements -of the member 32 of the cam in respect 4to themember 30 which are necessitated by the desired kvariations in the length of thesti'tch to be produced. Y

If the needle cylinderof thev machine is the rotating element and the cam ring b3 the non-rotating element vertical movement may be imparted either to the needle cylinder, to

the cam ring, or to thecams ycarried thereby, and the same adjustments of the sinker operating cams will beeiiected as are aboye described. 1 l .n j

As thel needles are depressed after receiving the new knitting yarnunder their beards it becomes necessary to close the point of the lbeard in order that the latter may4 pass through the previously formed loop which ,nowencircles the shank of thel needle. For

this purpose I. employ presser levers 33,` each lying in fronty ofone of the needles and contained in the groove ofthe rib 11 which receives said needle, and in order lto provide -a simple and effective means for pivoting these levers I form in said rib 11 an annular groove, the baseyof which receives a wire 35,

the latter extendingcompletely around the need-le` cylinderand fitting into a notch in the innerface of eachioivthe,y presser levers 33, asshown vin Fig. 1, said levers being rel 'tained in proper position lin yrespect to the wire 35 by means' of anannulanplate 36.

which is secured. t0 the under `side of the bed 12 and which maybe composed of segments,

' That Yportion of y each of the presser levers 33 which bears against the inner faceviof the annular plate 36 constitutes the arc of a. circle having itsaxis at the center of the wire 35, so thateach presser lever is free to swing to a limited extent upon said wire 35 as a fulcrum.

The desired swinging movements are imparted to the presser levers 33 by means of cams 37 and 39 carried by a bracket 40 which is secured to the under side of a boss 41 projecting from the cam plate 16, as shownin Fig. 3, whereby as said cams are moved with the drive ring3a they act upon the successive presser' levers 33 and impart the desired rocking movements thereto.

The upper portionl of each lever 33 is shaped so as to properly act upon the beard of the needle as the latter is depressed (see Fig. 4) and close the point of the beard before it reaches the previously formed loop encircling the stem of the needle, the presser lever being then, by preference, permitted to swing outward, as shown in Fig. 1, so that it will not exert any compressing effect upon the needle beard when the needle again rises. 1

The machine shown in the drawings is intended for both rotary and to-and-fro knitting, and during to-and-fro knitting there is a change in the position of the knitting cams in respect to thel yarn feed on each change' in the direction of vmotion in order that the yarn feed may have the desired lead of said knitting cams Whether the machine is moving to the right or to the left. In the machine shown in the drawings I have not provided for any such change in the position of the sinker and web-holderactuating cams when changing the motion in knitting to-and-fro, since in a machine of the type to which I have shown my invention as applied, it is the practice to so mount the yarn feed that it will move with the driving ring 3a, and as the movable member 32 of the sinker actuating cam always bears the same relation to the yarn feed the cam plate 16 has likewise been mounted so as to move with the drive ring 3a through the medium of the standard 22. For this reason it becomes necessary to duplicate the cam formations both for the sinkers-and web holders. In a machine for knitting round and round only, this duplication will not be necessary.

I have shown my machine as equipped with needles having the upper portions of their stems advanced in respect to the lower portions whereby the stitches will be sunk upon the advanced upper portions of the needles by the action of the sinkers la when said needles are in operative relation with the needle actuating cams but will not be thus acted upon by the sinkers when the needles are raised to inoperative position, the retracted portions of the needle stems being then in line with and inwardly beyond the throw of the sinkers. This peculiar type of needle, however, forms no part of my present invention, nor is the latter limited te machines employing such needles, but is applicable as well to machines having spring beard needles with straight stems.

I claim:

l. The combination of a needle carrier having spring beard needles, means for reciprocating said needles, one of said elements being adjustable to vary the relation of the knocking-over point to the retracted needles, sinkers cooperating with the needles to determine the length of stitch, a cam for projecting said sinkers, and cam operating devices between fixed and movable members of the knitting machine whereby adjustment of said movable member will effect change in the degree of projection of the sinkers. i

2. The combination of a needle carrier having spring beard needles, means for reciprocating said needles, one of said elements being adjustable in respect to the other to vary the relation 'of the knockingover point to the retracted needles., sinkers for determining the length of stitch, a cam having a movable member for varying the extent of projection of the sinkers, connections between ixed and movable members of the knitting machine, and means whereby movement of said connections caused by adjustment of the movable member of the machine will e'ect corresponding adjustment of the said movable member 'of the sinker-cam-actuating mechanism.

3. The combination of. the needle carrier having spring beard needles, means for reciprocating said needles, one of said elements being movable in respect. to the other to vary the relation of the retracted needles to the knocking-over point, sinkers for determining the lengthof stitch, a carrier for said sinkers, sinker-actuating cam mechanism having a movable member, a standard connected to the relatively fixed `member of the knittingjmachine.y anda connection between said standard and the movable member of the sinker-actuating cams whereby the latter will be moved to vary the sinker stroke in consonance with the movement ofthe movable member of the knitting machine.

4. The combination of the needle carrier having spring beard needles, means for rewhereby VAmovement of the movable element of the knitting machine will cause move' lother to vary therelation lof the retracted needles to the knocking-over point, sinkers coperating with the needles to determine the length of stitch, a sin'ker-carrying 'bed and sinker-actuating cam plate having a movable member and mounted upon the needle carrier, a standard occupying a vertically fixed relation to the needle-actuating mechanism, and a lever interposed between said movable cam member and thestandard lwhereby the throw of the sinkers will be varied to accordv with any change in the position of the retracted needles in respect to the knocking over point.

6. The combination, in a knitting 1nachine, of needle. carriers having spring beard needles, means for reciprocating the latter, sinkers coperatino' with the Ineedles to vary the length of stitcln a sinker-actuating cam plate having a removable section with movable member (for varying the throw of the sinkers, a plate carrying said removable section, and a bar guided by said plate and carrying the movable cam member.

In testimony whereof, I have signed-my' name to 'this specification in the presence of two subscribing wltnesses.

H. SWINGLEHURST.

Witnesses THERESE F. MURPHY, WALTER LARKIN,

Copies of tlm patentmey be obtained for live cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of ratents,

Wihington, D. C. 

